


The Road to Hell

by Suukarin



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Endgame, Gen, In which Asgore has a very bad time, In which Frisk has a bad time, In which Sans realizes why he should never get his hopes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 06:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7422757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suukarin/pseuds/Suukarin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Man, I must be the biggest numbskull in the world, getting my hopes up because of a naive human... 'Cause look where it's got me now. I'm up against you, and now you have to make a choice."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road to Hell

**Author's Note:**

> Writing is hard when you don't do it often. More may follow...

There's not even a scream -- just the sickening crunch of bone against brick, and the ragged scrape of a small body briefly sliding down the wall before the human crumples, unconscious, to the ground, blood pouring from the gash from their skull.

He wishes it could have been this easy for once, just an accidental burst of power that finishes the job...

But Asgore still hears the human's labored breathing, and, with a sinking weight on his chest, knows what he must do.

"Human... I am sorry," the king of monsters murmurs as he takes slow, heavy steps towards the human's unconscious body. "If we had met at a different time... I am sure we could have been friends. But..."

Asgore stops just before the human, eyes closed -- determined to look anywhere but down.

"...you know how it is."

With a deep breath, he raises his spear, finally forcing himself to open his eyes.

"...Goodbye--"

Asgore only barely notices a flash of white from the corner of his eye, and leaps back just as a laser blast disintegrates the ground where he had been only a moment before.

"What--?!"

"Sorry, Mr. King, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

Bony hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, Sans saunters in from outside, his pupilless eyes fixed on the king.

"You... I recognize you," Asgore says, brow furrowing as he angles his spear towards the skeleton. "You were one of Gaster's assistants, were you not...? What are you doing here?"

"Well, that's kind of a long story," Sans shrugs, the perpetual smile still plastered on his face. "But uh, let's just say that I'm here to stop you from killing this human. Yeah, I know -- monsters _defending_ humans? What a time to be alive! Well, what a time to be undead, at least."

Asgore finds himself backing away as Sans, calm as can be, walks over and plants himself between the king and the human.

"Sorry, I'm... not quite sure I understand," Asgore says, feeling a heavy sense of unease settle in his heart. "You are here to defend the human...? When you, of all monsters, should know--"

"That their soul is our ticket out of here? Heh, you don't need to remind me," the skeleton interrupts, scratching the back of his head as he turns to glance at the human's unconscious body. "In fact, I've, uh, kinda seen what happens if the human gets to go home... And it ain't a lot of fun for us down here."

Asgore then blinks as Sans, with just the smallest of shrugs, proceeds to reach into his pocket and pull out a hot dog.

"If you know... if that's the case, then why have you come to stop me?" he can't help but ask.

"Well, my first mistake was making a promise to that old lady," Sans chuckles, taking a large bite out of his food. "I mean, I hate making promises _anyway_ , much less ones to protect _humans_. But, y'know... I've got my standards, and she met 'em, so my hands were kinda tied. This, naturally, led to my second mistake..."

He takes a moment to shove the rest of the hot dog into his mouth, then continues, still chewing:

"I found out this human can reset the timeline."

Asgore nearly drops his weapon in shock.

"What...!?"

"Who'd've thought, right?" Sans agrees, his grin widening. "But I did some, uh, very professional experiments to make sure I wasn't just, y'know... getting my hopes up. But nope -- this kid has a power the rest of us could only dream of. Which, uh, led me to make my third mistake..."

At this, he turns around, looking down at the human.

"If someone's going and resetting the timeline, then they're either hell-bent on making us suffer... or they're not getting the happy ending they want, right?" Sans asks. "At least, that's what I thought. So I, uh, I followed the kid around, trying to find out what makes 'em tick... and I got. Well. I guess you could say I got attached. Especially when I found out that all the kid wants... is a happy ending for everyone."

The skeleton falls silent for a moment, then lets out a small laugh.

"Man, I must be the biggest numbskull in the world, getting my hopes up because of a naive human," he sighs, shaking his head. "'Cause look where it's got me now. I'm up against you, and now you have to make a choice."

Asgore subconsciously tightens his grip on his spear, unable to explain the need to do so, but...

"And what would that be?" he asks, somehow already knowing what Sans will say.

"Well... you can let the human go, since they pretty clearly didn't want to fight you in the first place," Sans begins, voice light. "And they'll probably reset the timeline... and we'll hopefully not have to have this conversation again. Or..."

"...or... you will stand in my way to protect the human."

Sans looks over his shoulder, still grinning.

"I mean, it's your call," he shrugs. "But, uh... I can tell ya right now... I'm pretty sure I know what you're gonna say."

Despite himself, and despite knowing, Asgore closes his eyes momentarily, then lets out a sad chuckle.

"I am sorry... you must know I do not want to, since you seem to have done this before," the king says, regret filling his voice. "But... you also must know that I have also come too far to stop here."

"Heh... that's what I thought," Sans also laughs, nodding lightly. "It ain't always fun, being right. But, uh, if that's your choice... can you at least do me a little favor?"

"Hmm...?"

Sans reaches up, scratching at his jaw.

"See, I'm still pretty lazy," he admits. "I, uh, don't really like to spend a lot of effort doing anything..."

The room flashes black, save for the glow of a single bright blue eye--

_"So hold still."_


End file.
